Princess Mabel van Oranje-Nassau and UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé were presented with the World Without AIDS Award in Berlin, Germany, on 4 November in recognition of their achievements in the global AIDS response.
The awards were made by Deutsche AIDS-Stiftung, the German AIDS foundation, during its annual Benefit Opera Gala, which brought together 2000 guests to raise money for the AIDS response and to speak out against stigma and discrimination.
Princess Mabel van Oranje-Nassau was honoured for her almost 20-year commitment to ending AIDS. She is the Chair and founder of Girls not Brides, the global partnership to end child marriage, which consists of more than 800 civil society organizations in 95 countries.
Mr Sidibé received his award in recognition of his work to achieve the goal of ending AIDS by 2030.
During the gala, which has been raising awareness and funds for people living with HIV since 1994, Mr Sidibé highlighted the growing HIV epidemic in eastern Europe and central Asia, which saw a 60% increase in new HIV infections between 2010 and 2016. He made it clear that the shrinking space for civil society in the region will exacerbate stigma and discrimination and will drive people away from life-saving services.
Germany is a leader in global health and has consistently driven progress in the AIDS response at both the national and international levels. In 2017, the German nongovernmental umbrella organization Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe launched a campaign to end AIDS in Germany by 2020.
“If we can keep girls in school and out of marriage and protect them from HIV infection, they will be better educated, healthier and more prosperous. And that’s not good just for those girls, that’s also good for their families, their communities and their countries. So let girls be girls and not brides.”
Princess Mabel van Oranje-Nassau
“We need to make the impossible possible for the most marginalized people.”
Michel Sidibé UNAIDS Executive Director
“The number of guests here today and their strong engagement proves how relevant our fight against HIV still is.”
Alard von Rohr, cofounder Benefit Opera Gala
